Dutch mosque council releases Wilders cartoon

While leader of the Dutch Islamophobic and anti-EU Freedom Party, Wilders, has announced he will broadcast Muhammad cartoons, a Dutch mosque organization has published its own cartoon.
rmmn wilders

Wilders is one of the most vocal opponents of Islam, migration and the EU in the Netherlands. He is living under police protection since 2004, after the murder on Theo van Gogh, following death threats. In 2008 he released his movie ‘Fitna’ and called upon Muslims to tear out the pages of the Quran that were hateful.
In May Wilders was a speaker at the Draw Muhammad Cartoon Contest in the US. After he left the venue two men (allegedly with ties to IS) attacked the place but they were killed by the police. He tried to have to cartoons displayed in Dutch Parliament and after that was denied he announced he will broadcast the cartoons on Dutch TV during a special program that is allocated to political parties. According to Wilders:

“If we say, ‘it might be offensive, so let’s not do it,’ then we send a signal to the people who wanted to get into the event in Texas … and all their followers that it works. That we can be intimidated, that we get frightened.”

Prior to this, the Council of Moroccan Mosques in the Netherlands (De Raad voor Marokkaanse Moskeeën in Nederland – RMMN) released its own cartoon as a counter-reaction to Wilders. According to Aissa Zanzen, spokesperson for the RMMN:

We want our action to show that humor is the best way to respond to the provocation and insult by Wilders

According to Zanzen a dialogue with Wilders is impossible as he ‘only vents’:

Our message is a sign to Muslims that humor, shrugging and ignoring is the best way to deal with Wilders’ yelling. We would like to see that Muslims and non-Muslims engage in more ludic reactions by pen or brush.

The cartoon show Wilders as a yelling and angry toddler (my interpretation) against the background of a bomb that goes: he shouts ‘fewer, fewer‘ referring to a famous speech by Wilders when he urged his public to shout ‘fewer fewer’ after he asked if they wanted more Moroccans or fewer. Below that we see what appears to be Muslims and non-Muslims smiling and talking to each other. The headline reads: ‘We continue to build the Netherlands’. About 500 copies will be made of the cartoon and distributed via social media, train stations and bus stops.

Meanwhile, Wilders’ political ad was scheduled to be aired last Saturday however the public only saw one of their old ads. According to the broadcaster this was a ‘mistake’ and the right ad will be aired coming Wednesday. You can see the cartoons on the youtube channel of the PVV.

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